The Strange Positioning of the Revival of the Atari Console

After having changed names, hands , and then filed for bankruptcy, Atari was resurrected by the French Frédéric Chesnais. Ambitious, he’d tease a new console, called Ataribox, 2018.

The VentureBeat website got new details this week. And 250-300 dollars with a future crowdfunding on Indiegogo, one does not really understand the positioning of a console that surfs fashion revival / nostalgia but also to attract independent developers. The microconsole Ouya, in its time, costing 129 euros. And the SNES classic Mini, which comes out this Friday for 80 euros.

At the price of PS4

The Ataribox is certainly much less limited. That’s a Linux PC equipped with an AMD chip, designed for the living room with a rather successful real wood design. According to Atari, it will include play old games. But because it is an “open system”, shall be consistent with the titles to other platforms (like Steam). “The console will be powerful enough to run PC games midrange, but not AAA titles that require a large configuration,” says the company VentureBeat.

In short, we rather talk about indie games as Call of Duty . The concept is interesting, but probably not marketed at a price the same as a Playstation 4.